'Built In Chicago' Online Community Migrates From Ning to Drupal Through Duo Consulting

CHICAGO, IL, May 24, 2012

Communication tools are the key elements of any online community, but you shouldn' t let your software limit you if you recognize features that could help you grow.

That' s the idea that spawned a big change for Built In Chicago. The thriving online community for Chicago tech professionals grew too big for its britches on the Ning platform. Based on our experience with the Drupal CMS platform and online community development, BiC management chose Duo to rebuild the site and migrate content.

The move to Drupal was a strategic one. First, the open source CMS has a much greater capacity for organizing the massive amounts of content that BIC members have contributed. Second, BIC administrators required a more flexible platform for organizing and reorganizing how content appears on the page. Third, social login was a necessary addition, eliminating barriers to sign up for potential new members.

Of course, BIC also expected to leverage the benefits of a CMS platform evolving fluidly, integrating new developments as quickly as they gained traction on the Web. With Drupal, BiC is no longer subject to the whims and priorities of its proprietary software developer. It's free to scale and innovate as quickly as it grows because the Drupal platform can support these innovations.

A rescue project of sorts, we came onboard because the previous Drupal developer was unable to complete the project. The migration was a big undertaking for Duo in a small window of time considering we'd never worked with Ning before. Nevertheless, the team was up to the challenge. The rebuild and content migration took a total of six weeks.

The new site integrates layout and design created by a freelance designer and fine-tuned by the Duo team. Take a look at the sleek new online community by visiting the new Built In Chicago site.

For more about the evolution of online communities, read Duo Consulting CEO Michael Silverman's book, 'Capturing Community'.

"Duo Consulting is a Web Design and Content Management company that utilizes Drupal open-source technologies to create content-rich websites accessible through traditional and mobile platforms. For more information, please contact us at 312-529-3000."